Master's Express Program

Program Description

This option is open to Columbia students already enrolled in the B.S. degree program, who have a Columbia G.P.A. of no lower than 3.5. This option offers a quick and smooth transition to the M.S. degree program, with its well-known utility in professional training.

Advantages of Continuing on to the M.S. Program at Columbia

Continuing on to an M.S. degree program at Columbia offers several advantages to qualified students presently in the B.S. program:

Earn a M.S. degree seamlessly, knowing that the advanced courses they will be taking have been designed to have the exact prerequisites they have taken as undergraduates.

Students may take graduate classes in their senior year (if they want), and have them count towards the M.S. degree.

Students can plan their courses better, without squeezing M.S. requirements into two or three semesters. This makes possible a more streamlined set of courses, as well as increased depth and breadth.

An increased efficiency is to be had by virtue of the fact that the students do not have to move to a new area, but will instead be in an institution and city they already know. This, together with the seamless sequences of courses the program makes possible, can result in a shorter time towards the M.S. degree.

Summer projects taken at the end of the senior year for research credit can count towards the M.S. degree, provided the student has found a suitable advisor willing to supervise them.

The B.S. and M.S. requirements must be satisfied separately before the corresponding degree is awarded.

Application Process

Columbia students currently in the B.S. program, with a Columbia G.P.A. of no lower than 3.5, need to apply ONLINE through the SEAS Graduate Admissions website. Three faculty members from Columbia, who are willing to act as references, must be listed on the form, but do not need to be asked by the applicant to write letters; the Department will contact them.

No submission of an official transcript is required; the Department will obtain the transcript.

No GRE is required*

No TOEFL is required*, as it is assumed that foreign students already in the B.S. degree program have satisfactory command of English.

An $85 application fee is required

*If the student later decides to apply for admission to the Ph.D. program at Columbia, he/she will have to satisfy all Ph.D. admission requirements, including the GRE.

Application Deadlines

Students are highly encouraged to apply early (by October 25) in their senior year. Applications, however, will be considered until April 30. Applicants can expect to be notified of an admissions decision within one month.